U.S.: Consumer Prices Rise in August

Consumer prices in the United States continued to rise in August, after having done so in July, spurred by energy, said Friday the Labor Department in Washington.
Increased 0.3% over July, according to data corrected for seasonal variations, ie as much as the previous month (the 0.1% increase was revised upward) and the U.S.Consumer Prices Rise , the ministry said.The increase in prices in August were in line with the average estimate of analysts.Inflation returned in July after three months of falling prices. One must go back to August 2009 to find a price index increase of that magnitude (+0.4%) and the U.S.Consumer Prices Rise.

U.S.Consumer Prices Rise

The increase in prices during the first two months of the summer was caused by higher energy prices, which rose 2.3% mainly due to the increase in gasoline (+3.9%).Food prices rose for the first time since April (0.2%) and the U.S.Consumer Prices Rise .
Excluding food and energy, the so-called "core" inflation was zero (as in March and April), after three months in which amounted to 0.1% or 0.2%and the U.S.Consumer Prices Rise .

U.S. Congress about to give Obama the Wall Street reform

The Senate on Thursday to pronounce on the further reform of financial regulation in the U.S. since the 1930s, in a vote that put an end to a long debate in Congress and President Barack Obama will provide a crucial legislative victory.

The final text of more than two thousand pages of the law, "Dodd-Frank" - the name of its principal authors, Senator Chris Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank - was designed to try to prevent another crisis like that of 2008 that precipitated the U.S. economy into the abyss.

President Obama, personally involved in the ongoing reform debate this for almost a year, once again encouraged the Senate on Tuesday to act "quickly" so that they can sign it into law next week.

A first vote on closure of the debate took place on Thursday morning, and the final vote could come quickly if the Republicans gave up to thirty hours of debate that should follow every vote closing.

"We will finish this bill" this week, said Tuesday to the press the head of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Harry Reid.

The text, which seeks to extend regulatory control to whole sections of finance which escaped him, notably the creation provides a body of financial consumer protection within the Federal Reserve (Fed), and prevents the rescue large financial institutions at the expense of taxpayers.

The House of Representatives has approved on 30 June by 237 votes to 192 the final text common to both chambers, the result of intense negotiations bicameral.

Earlier this week the Democratic majority, which controls 58 seats out of 100 in the Senate, was the accession of three Republicans - Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Scott Brown - which enabled him to gather the 60 votes necessary for approval text.

But the other 38 Senate Republicans are determined to mark their opposition to this bill, noting in particular that gives too much power to regulators, which failed to prevent the financial crisis.

When the unemployment rate remains historically high in the United States in about 10%, Obama and Democrats have criticized Republicans for months before the midterm elections in November because of his opposition to reform.

The adoption of this reform will be a second major legislative victory for Obama this year, after the reform bill of health coverage in March.

Among the other highlights of the proposed measures include a provision for better control of the vast market for derivatives traded mutual agreement. These tools were speculative in the center of the latest U.S. financial crisis.

The text also contains a measure called the "Volcker rule" by the name of Obama's economic adviser, Paul Volcker, whose idea is to keep commercial banks away from the "temptation" to take risks to focus on their activities credit.

The project also creates a supervisory board of financial stability. However, the reform was watered down by last-minute commitments. Commercial banks may for example continue to market certain investment products.

Goldman irritates commission investigating U.S. financial crisis

The commission investigating the financial crisis quoted Goldman Sachs Group Inc. after the bank flooded the panel with 2,500 million page records, increasing the tension in the relationship of the firm with the U.S. government. The vice president of the Commission of Inquiry into Financial Crisis (FCIC, by its original acronym), Bill Thomas, said Monday night that Goldman, knowing the limited resources of the panel, staff had to find a needle in a haystack .
"We hoped that they gave us the needle," said Thomas. The Corporation said Goldman was quoted on Friday. The Wall Street firm had five terabytes of records, each containing 500 million pages of digitized records, told a press conference the president of the Corporation, Phil Angelides.
The commission called Goldman's response as "extreme." Angelides and Thomas said that other banks had complied with similar requests received and the FCIC. Goldman spokesman, Samuel Robinson, said in a statement that "we have been and we remain committed to deliver to FCIC information they have requested." Goldman shares fell $ 3.72, or 2.6 percent, to close at $ 138.68 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.

U.S. STOCKS-Futures fall awaiting housing and consumption data

The future of U.S. stocks down slightly on Tuesday as investors awaited data on home prices and consumer confidence, after strong gains the previous session.
Economists expect the Consumer Confidence Index Conference Board show a reading of 57 in September, up from 54.1 in August, according to Reuters.
Despite the improvement, the reading is still considered far from being healthy, since it suggests that there is continuing concern among consumers for any economic problems. The data will be published at 1400 GMT. The S & P / Case-Shiller Home Price U.S. for July is scheduled for 1300 GMT. Economists estimate that prices rose 0.5 percent in July compared to 1.4 percent in the previous month.
The energy sector is likely to recede, after the fall of crude oil futures. A weak demand picture that could be reinforced by weekly inventory data on U.S. fuel, condemning the crude to yield 0.3 percent.
Stock futures in the S & P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average fell 2 units and the Nasdaq 100 fell 6.25 points.

Zapatero will see Obama in the White House in October

The Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, will meet on Oct. 13 at the White House with U.S. President, Barack Obama, said on Friday the newspaper El Mundo.

Be the first time a U.S. president held a meeting with Zapatero in the White House since he took office in 2004 as they had no bilateral meeting with Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush.

No one was available on Presidency of the Government to confirm.

Early U.S. housing construction increases in August

New housing starts in U.S. homes rose in August to its highest level since November, driven by a rebound in multifamily housing, a report showed on Thursday the government.

The Commerce Department said housing starts for homes rose 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual 598,000 units, almost the mark of analyst expectations of 600,000.

U.S. consumer prices rise 0.4 pct in August

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16. - Consumer prices in the U.S. rose faster than expected in August against July by an acceleration in gasoline costs, data showed on Wednesday the Government, although the underlying trend pointed to contained inflation.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4 percent last month, slightly above market expectations of a rise of 0.3 percent.

Gasoline prices rose 9.1 per cent stronger after falling 0.8 percent in July. Compared with the same period in 2008, consumer prices fell 1.5 percent. Prices have been falling on the year since March this year.

Excluding volatile food prices and energy, core inflation measured by consumer rose 0.1 percent in August after a similar increase of 0.1 percent in July.

This was because the prices of new cars fell 1.3 percent, the steepest decline since October 1972.

This in turn reflected the incentives promoted by the Government, which offered discounts to customers to change their old cars for new ones, with a more efficient use of fuel.

The markets anticipated core CPI to an increase of 0.1 percent last month.